Pruning... Part 2

...So I did a lot of crying in 2000. Matt and I left our home church for 2 years to help a new sister church get started. We felt like we needed a fresh start and we wanted to be used. We were looking for purpose and we were on fire for the Lord. Sometimes in a mega church, you can get lost and become complacent. We realized we had been takers for too long. It was time to step out and serve. So that's what we did. It was a really huge growing time for us and we really did learn quite a bit during this season. The church ended up going in the "seeker" direction, which just wasn't working out for us, so we happily returned back to our home church, where we dove head first into service.

At this point in our marriage we now had 2 children and were in the process of building a new home. Matt's business was flourishing. Life was great. We put our son in our church's prestigious prep school and we were sailing on through life having a good old time. Hanging out with the "who's who" of the church and school. Traveling to far away places. Buying new cars. New pool in the back yard. Eating at expensive restaurants... I've mentioned all of this before. These things aren't sinful. They just aren't where the real living is at. You know what I mean? We have experienced some really awesome cool stuff, but I'm here to tell ya, there's NOTHING like the journey of letting go.

Matt was on the personnel committee at this point at our church and he was also asked to be on a search committee to replace our beloved pastor who was stepping down from the full-time pastor position. This opened up a door for us that we never saw coming and we became immersed in the happenings of our beloved church. On one hand, this was a blessing because we learned so much about ministry, on another it was a bit of a burden to carry and we learned first-hand that pastors and church staff are real people too.

About 6 years and another child later we realized we were in debt up to our eye balls. Not a good place to find yourself. The party was over and we were a bit sick of it all. We'd had enough. Nothing dramatic or terrible happened, we just started to get sick of ourselves, quite frankly. We felt empty inside and we wanted out of the rat race.

The debt continued, which is easy in real estate, because you're always waiting on that next big deal to go through. The sky is the limit and it could take a turn for the better or the worse just like that. We were always waiting on that one big deal to come along and make it all ok. Sometimes it did, but we weren't learning from our mistakes. Hard-headed we are:) (notice that I didn't say "were".)

So we built a bigger house:)

This was at the peak of the economy and business was BOOMING. We turned around and sold our house for more than double what we paid for it in just 3 short years and sunk every penny into the building of our current home that we also paid top dollar for... Which I'm sure you're doing the math... It's only worth about half today what we paid for it then, thanks to the lovely state of our economy:) When will we Americans ever wake up and get a clue?

Well our clue was coming...

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because I love reflecting on where God has brought us. Because just when I think I've got it all figured out, He shows us another area of our hearts that He wants us to give over to Him. And He's just getting started y'all. That's mind-blowing.

I have been doing a lot of hard thinking these past couple of years and I've come to grips with the fact that my personal comfort and happiness is not God's #1 desire for me. His love for me does not hinge on that at all. His ways are not our ways.

He desires one thing and one thing only...

My obedience and my devotion to Him above all else.

No matter the cost.

This story isn't over yet. I have a feeling it's only JUST begun.

Life is going to change for us drastically in just a few short months.

To the world it may look crazy.

Maybe it won't be crazy at all. Maybe everything will be just dandy.

"Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul..."

I'm not finished yet....

Loving the journey,
Rebecca